I'll Be Home for Christmas
by Brown Eyes Parker
Summary: The Brownstone looked as non-festive as it always did in December but suddenly it looked more like home than anywhere else had in a really long time. She took the steps two at a time and used the key that she still had on her key ring to get in. AU. Joanlock if you squint. Christmas fic.


**I'll Be Home for Christmas**

**A Joan & Sherlock Story**

**By Brown Eyes Parker**

**Author's Note:**

**I am posting another story for my first time without a story to introduce myself. But since it is the Christmas season, I guess a girl can do something a little different every now and then. So, here is my first Elementary story set in the holiday season. This story was inspired by the Percy Faith Orchestra version of **_**I'll Be Home for Christmas**_**. **

**Rated: T**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

_For my little sister, Katherine._

**.**

The first time Sherlock asked Joan to move back to the Brownstone, she was still a little upset with him and was having trouble letting him back in. Besides, she had a boyfriend and even though Sherlock swore up and down that he wouldn't mind if he came for nightly visits, Joan did mind. She didn't want Sherlock or Kitty walking in on them unannounced. Besides, even if she didn't have a boyfriend and even if she wasn't still a little upset at Sherlock, there was still the issue of Kitty living with Sherlock. She didn't want to have to worry about the younger woman's insecurities or stepping on anybody's toes.

So, she refused his offer and continued to work with Sherlock only when one of them needed assistance with a difficult case.

A month later when they had started to embark down a path of a tenuous friendship, Sherlock asked her to move in with him again. He gave her a long list of reasons why it would be prudent for her to do it. She thanked him for his generous offer but refused him for a second time because Kitty was still an issue and Andrew didn't really care for Sherlock. And he, along with her family, still came first in her life, her work was a close second and Sherlock was a distant third.

Sherlock looked disappointed but he rallied his spirits and paid for their coffee, telling her that he had other places to be. Joan watched him walk away and for a second, she felt bad for him. He was putting more than enough effort in and she was still holding him at arm's length, still punishing him for leaving her all alone without a proper goodbye. She took a sip of coffee and wondered when she had first started to sink to something so low as holding onto a grudge for longer than a person was supposed to.

The next time she thought he would ask her to move back in with him, he didn't. Maybe it was because Andrew had answered the door or maybe it was because he knew she would say no. They looked at each other for a while, unspeaking and then Sherlock did something that took her completely by surprise. He invited both her and Andrew to have Thanksgiving dinner with him and Kitty.

It was something Joan could easily say yes to even though they had two other places to be that day. They could manage dessert though, which she knew wouldn't be enough for Sherlock, but he hid his disappointment brilliantly and took her up on her offer to bring coffee and pecan pie.

There was a long period of time before he asked her to move in with him again. In fact, he waited a whole month before he did it again. They were friends again, enjoying a long brunch when he told her that she still had a room in his house, Kitty was sleeping somewhere else. She said no again because she needed her own space even though most days, she was free of Sherlock.

A few days later, Kitty disappeared without a word. They looked for her together for a couple of days, but it was like she had never existed. They gave up the search after five days, realizing if she wanted to be found then she would make herself known. Joan went home with Sherlock and cooked for him, while they were sitting in front of his fire, eating their dinner he asked her to move in again.

For a second, she was tempted to say yes just to make sure he would be okay. But she knew she couldn't be his crutch. So, she refused his offer and cleaned up while she left him to brood. When she came back to say goodbye, he was sleeping in his chair. So, she turned out the lights and locked up before she left.

Two weeks before Christmas, her Andrew broke up with her. Sherlock went over right away and got her out of her apartment, taking her to a really nice dinner and for a walk in Rockefeller Center. At the end of the night, when he left her on her doorstep, he invited her to move in again. She shook her head, her breath coming out in puffs as she told him no for what seemed like the umpteenth time. He shrugged as if to say _okay_ and then turned around, bidding her goodnight without even looking at her.

Joan watched him walk away and then went inside to her warm apartment. She got ready for bed and then settled in to watch a Christmas movie all by herself. She kept thinking about Sherlock all alone in his Brownstone across town. She felt a pang of loneliness and wondered if her friend was maybe feeling the same way.

They met the week before Christmas and he didn't ask her if she wanted to move in again. He talked about everything else but that. The case he was working on, how Mycroft was faring, how she was doing post-break up. She almost invited herself to move back in but she thought better of it after a breath of a minute. She had been the one who wanted to leave in the first place and she had been the one to keeping saying no when he had invited her to come home. She swallowed her request and took a sip of her coffee as she answered his questions.

A couple days later, she went to visit her step dad and mother, she helped with some last minute decorations and wrapping presents for her brother and his new wife. An old recording of _I'll be Home for Christmas _was playing on her mother's record player.

Joan's mind drifted to the Brownstone and to Sherlock. And suddenly everything she had already known came crashing down on her. Yes, she loved her independence, she loved having her own apartment but if she was being honest with herself, it didn't really feel like home.

"You seem lost Joan," her mother said, interjecting into her thoughts.

"I guess I do," Joan replied, sighing and looking out the window at the gray afternoon.

Her mother smiled at her like she knew something she didn't and lit a peppermint stick scented candle before pouring her another glass of mulled wine.

She spent Christmas with her family. It only took a few hours for her mother to push her out the door, telling her to go and see Sherlock. Joan wanted to ask her if she was sure, but she knew from the look on her mother's face that she didn't have to ask.

It would be fine.

**.**

The Brownstone looked as non-festive as it always did in December but suddenly it looked more like home than anywhere else had in a really long time. She took the steps two at a time and used the key that she still had on her key ring to get in.

Sherlock was napping in a chair beside the fire, there was a well-worn copy of _a Christmas Carol _pressed against his chest and Percy Faith's rendition of _I'll Be Home for Christmas _was playing on the record player.

Joan smiled at the sight, taking it in for a long moment and then she went to the kitchen to make some coffee. She had just switched the coffee maker on when there was movement at the threshold. She looked over and saw Sherlock standing there, just watching her with a look of awe on his face.

The moment passed and he cleared his throat. "Are you here for a visit. . . or are you. . .?" he trailed off, letting the question go unasked.

"I'm home for Christmas," she replied, shrugging slightly. "And then we'll see after that."

Sherlock came into the kitchen and smiled slightly at her as he took her hand. "Well then, welcome home. . . _for now_," he said.

"Merry Christmas Sherlock," Joan answered.

"Merry Christmas Joan."

**_The End_**

**.**

**Author's Note II:**

**I hope you'll tell me what you think of this. I am looking forward to your thoughts and to maybe writing more Joan & Sherlock stories for you, if you are interested. I have a Kitty and Marcus friendship story on my hard drive, if anybody would be interested in reading that. **

**Merry Christmas.**

**Sincerely,**

**Holly, 12/10/2014_ **


End file.
